Cheap White Oleander (Widescreen) (DVD) (Peter Kosminsky) Price

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Customer Reviews of White Oleander (Widescreen)

Very Pretty movie
About a Mother(played by Michelle Pfeiffer) who murders her boyfriend because he's cheating on her, her daughter Astrid(played by Alison Lohman) is forced to foster parents because her father left her mother when she was only 6 months old. She 1st meets this couple, mother is played by Robin-Wright Penn, & her boyfriend is Ray, fairly sweet guy who stops his girlfriend from murdering Astrid. She's takin to a foster place, where a bunch of kids rummage, Patrick Fugit plays her love interest, she meets him at this place, but she receives another couple looking for foster kids, the wife, Claire Richards(played fantastically by Renee Zellweger), very loving & sensitive woman, & the husband who is gone alot, divorces her, Astrid's mother, after she meets Claire, poisins Claire, & Astrid wakes up the next morning to find Claire lying right beside her, dead. Astrid's mother finally decides to do what's right & confesses in court, she's sentenced for life, while Astrid stays with her love.

This movie is well-thought & well-developped. Great acting, especially from Renee Zellweger, I've never loved a character as much as hers in this one, she is a fantastic actress, incredible work & Michelle Pfeiffer as the mother who is evil with a weak side, she portrays the character very well. As for the main character, Alison Lohman isn't a bad choice, but she wasn't incredibly remarkable either. Great movie, recommended, slow but very moving.

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White-washed script
Having read the novel, White Oleander, and been amazed and horrified at its raw, searing power, I was anxious to see the dvd. The film is amazing in its own way, too; amazingly shallow and trite.

Alison Lohman stars as Astrid, the innocent young teen who is thrust into the foster care system when her shrew of a mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) is convicted of murder. Astrid is first sent to Starr (Robin Wright Penn), a trashy, Bible-thumping trailer tramp who ends up shooting Astrid for trysting with her boyfriend. The next foster "mother" is Claire (Renee Zellweger), a needy, lonely actress-.... who commits suicide. The last stop is the flea-market life of savy, drugs, and rock and roll. Astrid also stays at the county childrens home, where she meets Paul (Nick Fugit), a sensitive loner, artist, and soul-mate. Astrid's visits to her mother in prison are confrontational and serve as opportunities to pull away from her mother's vicious grasp.

The script sounded like a first draft, a summary, a roll-call of characters; it lacked any emotional depth or character development. The direction was simplistic. Apparently someone thought, "What a great idea: Take some beautiful, famous actresses and put them together and make a feminist statement!" In fact, the actresses are wasted in small, undeveloped parts, with the exception of Lohman, who carries the film. The three adult parts lack grit and fire; The film needed the mother's psychotic hatred and the utter selfishness and cruelty of the "foster mothers" that made the novel so unforgettable. The dvd extras are unremarkable, except to show many of the best scenes ended up on the cutting room floor.

I cannot recommend this film, but those interested in a real look at the damage that can be done in the foster care system should read White Oleander by Janet Fitch.

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Stick to Tea
Men covet the hunt and women desire the perfect nest, so when we see a story about women and these women suffer in melodramatic fashion, we say this is a "Chick Flick." The men leave the room to drink beer in the garage. Well "White Oleander" did not threaten my burly manhood. I found the story compelling. I rooted for young teen, Alison Lohman. Her mother, Michelle Pfeiffer poisons a lover in a jealous rage. Consequently mom is arrested and gets 30 years in the slammer. Alison is shuttled from foster home to orphanage. Alison falls for the man toy of a Jesus freak and gets shot. Then terror girls at the orphanage jump her and she gets even. Renee Zellweger is L.A. as a substitute mom even if she is suicidal. The final foster home is all drugs and punk. So we see Allison morph from innocence to a worldly punk chick. Pfeiffer has a Feminist-Goddess hold on her daughter even from prison and her daughter must break away. This is the weakest part of the story, muddled. After all, mom should have kept her feminist panties on and her poison Oleander in the garden.